ROMAN CATHOLIC

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does Roman Catholic mean? 

• ROMAN CATHOLIC (noun)
  The noun ROMAN CATHOLIC has 2 senses:

1. a member of the Roman Catholic Church

2. the Christian Church based in the Vatican and presided over by a pope and an episcopal hierarchy

  Familiarity information: ROMAN CATHOLIC used as a noun is rare.

• ROMAN CATHOLIC (adjective)
  The adjective ROMAN CATHOLIC has 1 sense:

1. of or relating to or supporting Romanism

  Familiarity information: ROMAN CATHOLIC used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ROMAN CATHOLIC (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A member of the Roman Catholic Church

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("Roman Catholic" is a kind of...):

Catholic (a member of a Catholic church)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "Roman Catholic"):

papist (an offensive term for Roman Catholics; originally, a Roman Catholic who was a strong advocate of the papacy)

ultramontane (a Roman Catholic who advocates ultramontanism (supreme papal authority in matters of faith and discipline))

Holonyms ("Roman Catholic" is a member of...):

Church of Rome; Roman Catholic; Roman Catholic Church; Roman Church; Western Church (the Christian Church based in the Vatican and presided over by a pope and an episcopal hierarchy)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The Christian Church based in the Vatican and presided over by a pope and an episcopal hierarchy

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

Church of Rome; Roman Catholic; Roman Catholic Church; Roman Church; Western Church

Hypernyms ("Roman Catholic" is a kind of...):

Catholic Church (any of several churches claiming to have maintained historical continuity with the original Christian Church)

Meronyms (parts of "Roman Catholic"):

cardinalate; College of Cardinals; Sacred College; Sacred College of Cardinals ((Roman Catholic Church) the body of all cardinals of the church; elects and advises the pope)

Rome (the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church)

Curia ((Roman Catholic Church) the central administration governing the Roman Catholic Church)

Meronyms (members of "Roman Catholic"):

Roman Catholic (a member of the Roman Catholic Church)

Domain member category:

seminarian; seminarist (a student at a seminary (especially a Roman Catholic seminary))

Athanasius; Athanasius the Great; Saint Athanasius; St. Athanasius ((Roman Catholic Church) Greek patriarch of Alexandria who championed Christian orthodoxy against Arianism; a church father, saint, and Doctor of the Church (293-373))

Aquinas; Saint Thomas; Saint Thomas Aquinas; St. Thomas; St. Thomas Aquinas; Thomas Aquinas ((Roman Catholic Church) Italian theologian and Doctor of the Church who is remembered for his attempt to reconcile faith and reason in a comprehensive theology; presented philosophical proofs of the existence of God (1225-1274))

Ambrose; Saint Ambrose; St. Ambrose ((Roman Catholic Church) Roman priest who became bishop of Milan; the first Church Father born and raised in the Christian faith; composer of hymns; imposed orthodoxy on the early Christian church and built up its secular power; a saint and Doctor of the Church (340?-397))

vicar-general ((Roman Catholic Church) an administrative deputy who assists a bishop)

Beguine ((Roman Catholic Church) a member of a lay sisterhood (one of several founded in the Netherlands in the 12th and 13th centuries); though not taking religious vows the sisters followed an austere life)

Sister ((Roman Catholic Church) a title given to a nun (and used as a form of address))

Augustine; Augustine of Hippo; Saint Augustine; St. Augustine ((Roman Catholic Church) one of the great Fathers of the early Christian church; after a dramatic conversion to Christianity he became bishop of Hippo Regius in North Africa; St. Augustine emphasized man's need for grace (354-430))

provincial ((Roman Catholic Church) an official in charge of an ecclesiastical province acting under the superior general of a religious order)

postulator ((Roman Catholic Church) someone who proposes or pleads for a candidate for beatification or canonization)

penitent ((Roman Catholic Church) a person who repents for wrongdoing (a Roman Catholic may be admitted to penance under the direction of a confessor))

nuncio; papal nuncio ((Roman Catholic Church) a diplomatic representative of the Pope having ambassadorial status)

Monsignor ((Roman Catholic Church) an ecclesiastical title of honor bestowed on some priests)

internuncio ((Roman Catholic Church) a diplomatic representative of the Pope ranking below a nuncio)

domestic prelate ((Roman Catholic Church) a priest who is an honorary member of the papal household)

Gregory; Gregory Nazianzen; Gregory of Nazianzen; St. Gregory of Nazianzen ((Roman Catholic Church) a church father known for his constant fight against perceived heresies; a saint and Doctor of the Church (329-391))

Great Schism (the period from 1378 to 1417 during which there were two papacies in the Roman Catholic Church, one in Rome and one in Avignon)

canonical hour ((Roman Catholic Church) one of seven specified times for prayer)

Circumcision; Feast of the Circumcision; January 1 ((Roman Catholic Church and Anglican Church) feast day celebrating the circumcision of Jesus; celebrated on January 1st)

January 1; Solemnity of Mary ((Roman Catholic Church) a holy day of obligation)

Holy Year ((Roman Catholic Church) a period of remission from sin (usually granted every 25 years))

John Chrysostom; St. John Chrysostom ((Roman Catholic Church) a Church Father who was a great preacher and bishop of Constantinople; a saint and Doctor of the Church (347-407))

Eusebius Hieronymus; Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; Hieronymus; Jerome; Saint Jerome; St. Jerome ((Roman Catholic Church) one of the great Fathers of the early Christian Church whose major work was his translation of the Scriptures from Hebrew and Greek into Latin (which became the Vulgate); a saint and Doctor of the Church (347-420))

Irenaeus; Saint Irenaeus; St. Irenaeus (Greek theologian who was bishop of Lyons and an antiheretical writer; a saint and Doctor of the Church (circa 130-200))

Ignatius of Loyola; Loyola; Saint Ignatius of Loyola; St. Ignatius of Loyola (Spaniard and Roman Catholic theologian and founder of the Society of Jesus; a leading opponent of the Reformation (1491-1556))

Divine Office (canonical prayers recited daily by priests (e.g. the breviary of the Roman Catholic Church))

Gregory; Gregory I; Gregory the Great; Saint Gregory I; St. Gregory I ((Roman Catholic Church) an Italian pope distinguished for his spiritual and temporal leadership; a saint and Doctor of the Church (540?-604))

Francis of Assisi; Giovanni di Bernardone; Saint Francis; Saint Francis of Assisi; St. Francis; St. Francis of Assisi ((Roman Catholic Church) an Italian and the Roman Catholic monk who founded the Franciscan order of friars (1181-1226))

Domingo de Guzman; Dominic; Saint Dominic; St. Dominic ((Roman Catholic Church) Spanish priest who founded an order whose members became known as Dominicans or Black Friars (circa 1170-1221))

Bruno; Saint Bruno; St. Bruno ((Roman Catholic Church) a French cleric (born in Germany) who founded the Carthusian order in 1084 (1032-1101))

Apostle of Germany; Boniface; Saint Boniface; St. Boniface; Winfred; Wynfrith ((Roman Catholic Church) Anglo-Saxon missionary who was sent to Frisia and Germany to spread the Christian faith; was martyred in Frisia (680-754))

Baeda; Beda; Bede; Saint Baeda; Saint Beda; Saint Bede; St. Baeda; St. Beda; St. Bede; the Venerable Bede ((Roman Catholic Church) English monk and scholar (672-735))

Becket; Saint Thomas a Becket; St. Thomas a Becket; Thomas a Becket ((Roman Catholic Church) archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 to 1170; murdered following his opposition to Henry II's attempts to control the clergy (1118-1170))

Basil; Basil of Caesarea; Basil the Great; St. Basil; St. Basil the Great ((Roman Catholic Church) the bishop of Caesarea who defended the Roman Catholic Church against the heresies of the 4th century; a saint and Doctor of the Church (329-379))

Mass ((Roman Catholic Church and Protestant Churches) the celebration of the Eucharist)

breviary ((Roman Catholic Church) a book of prayers to be recited daily certain priests and members of religious orders)

sursum corda ((Roman Catholic Church) a Latin versicle meaning 'lift up your hearts')

ultramontanism ((Roman Catholic Church) the policy that the absolute authority of the church should be vested in the pope)

pallium ((Roman Catholic Church) vestment consisting of a band encircling the shoulders with two lappets hanging in front and back)

monstrance; ostensorium ((Roman Catholic Church) a vessel (usually of gold or silver) in which the consecrated Host is exposed for adoration)

purple; the purple ((Roman Catholic Church) official dress of a cardinal; so named after the Tyrial purple color of the robes)

Stations; Stations of the Cross ((Roman Catholic Church) a devotion consisting of fourteen prayers said before a series of fourteen pictures or carvings representing successive incidents during Jesus' passage from Pilate's house to his crucifixion at Calvary)

novena (a Roman Catholic devotion consisting of prayers on nine consecutive days)

dean ((Roman Catholic Church) the head of the College of Cardinals)

canonisation; canonization ((Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Church) the act of admitting a deceased person into the canon of saints)

beatification ((Roman Catholic Church) an act of the Pope who declares that a deceased person lived a holy life and is worthy of public veneration; a first step toward canonization)

confession ((Roman Catholic Church) the act of a penitent disclosing his sinfulness before a priest in the sacrament of penance in the hope of absolution)

placebo ((Roman Catholic Church) vespers of the office for the dead)

Office of the Dead (an office read or sung before a burial mass in the Roman Catholic Church)

Little Office (a Roman Catholic office honoring the Virgin Mary; similar to but shorter than the Divine Office)

indulgence (the remission by the pope of the temporal punishment in purgatory that is still due for sins even after absolution)

Vulgate (the Latin edition of the Bible translated from Hebrew and Greek mainly by St. Jerome at the end of the 4th century; as revised in 1592 it was adopted as the official text for the Roman Catholic Church)

Doctor; Doctor of the Church ((Roman Catholic Church) a title conferred on 33 saints who distinguished themselves through the orthodoxy of their theological teaching)

cardinal ((Roman Catholic Church) one of a group of more than 100 prominent bishops in the Sacred College who advise the Pope and elect new Popes)

Brother ((Roman Catholic Church) a title given to a monk and used as form of address)

bishop (a senior member of the Christian clergy having spiritual and administrative authority; appointed in Christian churches to oversee priests or ministers; considered in some churches to be successors of the twelve Apostles of Christ)

apostolic delegate ((Roman Catholic Church) a representative of the Holy See in a country that has no formal diplomatic relations with it)

Rota ((Roman Catholic Church) the supreme ecclesiastical tribunal for cases appealed to the Holy See from diocesan courts)

cardinalate; College of Cardinals; Sacred College; Sacred College of Cardinals ((Roman Catholic Church) the body of all cardinals of the church; elects and advises the pope)

Curia ((Roman Catholic Church) the central administration governing the Roman Catholic Church)

plainchant; plainsong ((Roman Catholic Church) a liturgical chant consisting of a single, unaccompanied melodic line)

gradual ((Roman Catholic Church) an antiphon (usually from the Book of Psalms) immediately after the epistle at Mass)

Immaculate Conception; Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary ((Christianity) the Roman Catholic dogma that God preserved the Virgin Mary from any stain of original sin from the moment she was conceived)

kiss of peace; pax ((Roman Catholic Church) a greeting signifying Christian love for those assisting at the Eucharist)

spiritual bouquet ((Roman Catholic Church) a card indicating that the sender will perform certain devotional acts on behalf of another)

Mass card ((Roman Catholic Church) a card sent to a bereaved family that says the sender has arranged for a Mass to be said in memory of the deceased)

Paternoster ((Roman Catholic Church) the Lord's Prayer in Latin; translates as 'our father')

missal ((Roman Catholic Church) a book containing all the prayers and responses needed to celebrate Mass throughout the year)

• ROMAN CATHOLIC (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of or relating to or supporting Romanism

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Synonyms:

papist; papistic; papistical; popish; R.C.; Roman; Roman Catholic; Romanist; romish

Context example:

the Roman Catholic Church

Pertainym:

Romanism (the beliefs and practices of the Catholic Church based in Rome)

 Context examples 

She was a Roman Catholic; and I believe her confessor confirmed the idea which she had conceived.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

I keep it and rear it rather on the Roman Catholic principle of expiating numerous sins, great or small, by one good work.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Mrs. Barclay was, it appears, a member of the Roman Catholic Church, and had interested herself very much in the establishment of the Guild of St. George, which was formed in connection with the Watt Street Chapel for the purpose of supplying the poor with cast-off clothing.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A courtesy title for a person who supervises a number of local churches or a diocese, being in the Greek, Roman Catholic, Anglican, and other churches a member of the highest order of the ministry.

(Bishop, NCI Thesaurus)

I shall devote myself for a time to the examination of the Roman Catholic dogmas, and to a careful study of the workings of their system: if I find it to be, as I half suspect it is, the one best calculated to ensure the doing of all things decently and in order, I shall embrace the tenets of Rome and probably take the veil.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)